Loose cover and cutter for hermetically-sealed tins



Patented July 3, 1923.

I 4 1,460,845 warren: smr as PATENT oars HENIB- Y' HERMANI, OF BALTIMLORE', MARYLAND, ASSIGN'ORZTO TH EITIN'.DECORATING?" COMPANY. OFBALTIMQRE, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION?OF ".'NEW' JERSEY! a l v LOOSE COVER AND CUTTER FOR I-IERME'I'IGALLYrSEALED, TINS}.

'- Applicationfiled July 14, 1922. Serial No. 574,924...

To. dZZfw/wmitinay concern: Be it known thatl, HENRY HERMANI, a

citizen'of'the United States, andresident of Baltimore-and State of Maryland, have invented certainnew anduseful Improvements.

in'Loose Covers and Gutters. for Hermetically-Sealed Tins, of which the following is a specification.

, This invention'relates ,to a can opening device, and more particularly to an opening or. cutting device. for. hermetically sealed meta-loans of the tagger-tin type provided with; a supplemental cover; and has special reference to the provisionof .an' improved supplemental coverand cutter. device for such cansor tins The. principal. object of. the. present-in ventioncomprehends-fthe provision of an improvedsupplemental. cover and cutter of the typenow; widely employed. in packaging food, tobaccoand. other products in which. a fianged'looseor supplementalcover is pro.- vided adjacent its periphery'with aloose and radially movable, cutter device nor-. mally lying in an inoperative position between the cover flange. and. the body of'the can, and movable. to an operative position for puncturing andcuttingaway the taggertin top. when they coverfis, forced downwardly and rotated on the. can. In. the. use of these. supplemental-covers. and cutters, difliculty is-ofttimesexperienced in rotating the covers on the cans, especially when the cover fits relatively tightly onthe can, the grasping of the cover. by the hand for rotat-ing the same accentuating or aggravating'the difficulty by reason ofothe fact that the pressure. on thetop wall and side wall orflange. of the cover exerted by thehand increases the friction; between the walls of the cover and. the body walls of the can. Moreover, where the can is made of re1atively large. dimensions, increased difficulty is'experienced in rotating the cover which. is correspondingly of large .radius. To over come these disadvantages, .the present invention comprehends a construction which theucover may be rotated without increasing the friction between the parts, ro-

tation of. the cover being attended without unduly pressing the top wall and without forcing or exerting pressure. on the flange-ofthe; cover, andiiin which, rotation of coyers of relatively large. radii. may be efficiently facilitated.

into cutting sirable manner.

turevor perforating of, thefsealedj tagger-tin top,,.before placing the supplemental cover onthe. can in the packaging operation the loosely. slidalolev cutter thereon must be 10 cated'in its inoperative position so as to lieij between the can body and. the. cover flange. The cutter 'in being, loosely slidab'le onthe cover oft-times moves Ormigrates tozits op; erative. or cuttingpositionflthis occurring;v usually"whent he cover is tampered wither handled duringshipping orstorageuse, and when thecovers are forced as during stacking of the, cans, the sealed tops are punc; tuned with the result that. thefsealsofthe cans are destroyed. presentinventi'on, this danger or liability is successfully obviated and "the cutters when once placed by the packerinan inoperative positiona-ref held in such position untiltheyare nioved position when openingof' the can is desired.

Thev principal" objects: of the present in vention, may be, said to include,besides the provision of animproved; supplemental cover andcutter having the. characteristics abo-vereferred to, the further provision of. a cover andcutter of'this nature in which the cover is provided with a handlesnio'vI- able fromi an inoperative position to an opera'tive position with the handle extending beyond the periphery of the cover andl adapted to be graspediby the hand of the; operator forrotating the cover, pressure ofthe hand being released from the cover parts and opening of large sized cansvbeing facilitated; the further provision of a de-i vice of this nature in which'the handle is mounted on the cover for slidable move mentthereon from an inoperative positiont lyingwithin the, confines of'the cover to its} operative position extending beyond the, cover; 'thestill further provision of a de vice of this nature in which the handle is constructed to normally bear upon the; cutter device so as to retain the same in'its inoperative position to prevent accidentalpen forating or puncturing of the sealed tops, and the. still. further provision of'a supplemental cover, cutter'and handle, made of relatively few parts and constructed to perform the desired functions in a highly de To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear my invention consists in the elements and their relation one to the other','as hereinafter. particularly, described and sought to be defined in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the can and supplemental cover and handle'therefor, with parts shown in section;

Fig. 2 is 'aplan view thereof showing the cover handle in its inoperative position;

1 or depression, 12. The can 10is provided with the loose .or supplemental cover 13 the said cover carrying a cut'ting devicec. The cutting device 0 is loosely and radially movable in the slot 14 on the supplemental cover 13, the said cutting device being pro- 'vided with thetriangular shaped downturned blade, portion 15, and being further provided with opposed wing or tongue portions 16 extending throughthe slot 14 of the cover and being turned downwardly to engage the topwall or surface ofthe cover, the said wings 16 cooperating with the slot 1% for guiding the movement of the cutter from an inoperative position shown' in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings with the blade 15 lying between the flange 17 of the supplemental cover and the side walls 10 of the can to. an operative position as shown in Figs. 3 and f the drawings with the blade 15 received by the annular groove 12 for perforating and cutting the sealed top 11.

As heretofore mentioned, a principal object of the present invention comprehends the provision of a construction in which rotation of the supplemental cover 13 may be I effectively facilitated, especially when the cover tightly fits the can body, and in which rotation of covers of relatively large radii maybe accomplished with facility and ease. Tothese ends, .I provide the supplemental cover 13 with a handle movable from an inoperative position to an operative position whereby the handle may be grasped by the operator and moved to effect rotation of the cover. In the preferred construction, I provide a slidably movable handle 18 carried by the cover and slidably movable thereon from a position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, with the handle lying. within the confines of the can body -to a positionshown in Figs. 3 and 5 of the. drawings, with a portion of thehandle extending beyond the peripheryofthe cover ready to be grasped for rotation. of, the cover to break the can seal. The handle 18 may be made from a single blank of sheet metal formed into the configuration clearly shown in the drawings, the spaced sideedges 19 of the handle being preferably inturned as shown for example in Figs. 2 and 40f the drawings, a strong and-reinforced sheet metal handle being thereby provided. For slid ably supporting the handle on the cover, the

said cover 13 is preferably provided with the spaced strap portions 20 and 21 formed preferably integrally with the cover each of the said strap portions being provided by producing parallel slits in the cover and striking the strap portion up'from'the cover, as will be clear from a consideration of the drawings. The strap portions20 and 21 are:

preferably spaced in the manner'indicated with one of the strap 'portlons', such as 20,

centrally located and the other strap portion 21 arranged adjacent the peripheryof'the cover, this to the end of providing meansfor effectively taking up the strains during can opening operation with the proper leverage obtained for the handle. *The handle .18 at its rear end may also be provided with the upturned flap or tongue 22; this tongue functioning as a stop member and cooperating with the strap portion 20 for limiting the outward movement of the handle18 as clearly shown in Fig.3 of the drawings.

For the purpose of retainingthe cutter c in its inoperative positionwith} the cutting member or blade 15 seated" between the flange of the cover and the body walls of the can, this in order to obviate accidental puncturing of the tagger-tin top, the handle 18 is mounted on thecoverfso as to normally overlie the cutter 0, the construction fur thermore being such that the handle 18 normally bears upon the cutterv 0 to'retain the same in fixed inoperative position. A'con:

venient and simple construction to effect this result is exemplified in the 'drawings, the handle 18 being provided at its frontend' with a single ply tongue portion 23normally resiliently bearing against the cutterc as clearly shown in Fig. 1 ofth-e dra'w'ings to' retain the same in inoperative position as indicated in said figure. .To provide" the tongue 23, the inturned side portions or flaps 19 of the handle 18 may be made to terininate short of the front end of the handle as indicated at 24 in the drawings. v

The manner of'making andusing my inn proved can opening device will inthe main befully apparentfrom theabove detailed description thereof; jIn-p'la'cingthe loose'o'r; supplemental'cove'r on the can body the'cutter 0 is put or placed in its inoperativezposi tion with the front tongue por-tion 23 ofthe handle exerting pressure} thereon toretain the same in' such position so that upon mounting the supplemental cover on the can the cutting blade of the cutter will be positioned between the flange of the cover and the walls of the can body. For rotating the cover toopen the can, the cutting device is moved to its inner or cutting position and the handle 18 is moved outwardly to a position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, so

that the front portion of the handle may be, grasped by the hand of the operator to effect rotation of the cover. In opening a small sized can, by exertlng the pull on the handle 18 undue pressure is-released from the cover top and flange portions, rotation of the cover being thereby facilitated.

Where a relatively large sized can is to be opened, the can body may beta-ken hold of by one hand' of the operator and thecover rotated by grasping the handle with the other hand and exerting a-pull thereon. By

arranging the handle 18 in a position over-I I lying the cutter c, I am not only enabled to retain the cutter in inoperative position i when desired, but I am enabled to exert the effective pressure, in opening the can, on the cover portion in which the cutterv is mounted, the cutter being thereby forced home throughout the full cutting operation.

While I have shown my'device in the preferred form, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications maybe made in the structure disclosed without departingwithinthe confines of the cover and movable from such position to an operative position with the handle extending beyond the pe-,

riphery of the cover for being grasped to rotate the same. Y

2. In combination, a loose orsupplemental cover for hermetically sealed tins or cans, a cutter loosely carried by the cover and radially movable thereon from an inoperative position to an operative position for removing or cutting away the sealed tagger-tin top of the can when the cover isrotated on the same, the handle carried by the cover movable from an inoperative position within the confines of the cover to an operative position with the handle extendingor projecting ifrom the t-periphery of. the cover. tobe grasped :for; rotating the same, sthes*aid handle being. made out ofsheet metal: provided with lateral inturnecl edges and hay-. ing its end. formed into a tonguex member erative position against accidental displacement. y p

.3. In combination, a loose or supplemental cover for hermetically sealed tins or cans, a cutter carried by the cover for removing or cutting away the sealed or tagger-tin top I of the can when the cover is rotated on the same, and a handle carried by the cover and slidable ithereon from an inoperative posi- '71) normally; overlying thegcutter and bearing: upon the-same to hold the same in itsaino'p tion within the confines of the same to an f beyond the periphery of the cover for being grasped to rotate the same.

4. Incombination, a flanged or supple operative position with the handle extending 1 mental cover for hermetically sealed this or cans, a cutter loosely carried by the cover and radially movable thereon from an in operative position between the flange of the cover and the body of the can to an oper ative position for removing or cutting away the sealed or tagger-tin top. of the can, anda handle carried by the cover and, movable thereon from an inoperative position'within tion with the" handle extending beyond the the confines of the same to'an operative posiperiphery of the cover for being graspedto rotate the same for cutting away the sealed top of the can, the saidhandle being provided with a portion normally overlying the v I said cutter and bearing upon the same to hold the 'same'in its inoperative against accidental displacement.

5. In combination, a loose orsupplemental cover for hermetically sealed tins or cans, a cutter carried by the cover for removing or position cutting away the sealed or tagger-tin top of the can when the cover is rotated on the same, spaced strap portions struck up from the cover, and a handle carried by the cover and slidably movable insaid strap portions,

the said handle being movable from an inoperative position within the confines of the cover to an operative position with the handle extending or projecting from the periphery of the cover to tating the same.

be grasped for rov p I 6. In combination, a loose or supplemental 1 cover for hermetically sealed tins or cans, a

cutter loosely carried by the cover and radi-' ally movable thereon from an inoperative position to an operative position for removing or cutting away the'sealed tagger-tin" top of the can when'the cover is rotated on the same, spaced strap portions struck up from the cover, and a handle carried by the cover and slidably movable in said strap portions, the said handle being movable from an inoperative position withinthe confines of the.

cover. to an operative position with the handle extending or projecting from the rotating the same, the said handle being provided at one end With'an integral stop 00- operating with one of the said strap portions to limit the movement of the handle, the

other end of the handle being provided With a a tongue normally overlying the cutter and peripheryof the cover to be'grasped .fOl'fi resiliently v keeping ative position. r Signed at Baltimore and State 1013 Marythe-same inits inoper- 10 land," this 12th day of July, A. D. 1922.

-HENRY HERMANI. I 

